


Jolene's Reply

by tricia868



Category: Jolene - Dolly Parton (Song)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28332591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tricia868/pseuds/tricia868
Summary: I’m sorry, you misunderstandThere never has been any manWho ever caught my eye like youMy dear
Relationships: Jolene/Narrator (Jolene)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2020





	Jolene's Reply

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lady_sarai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_sarai/gifts).



_My dear, my dear, my dear, my dear  
I’m begging of you please just leave that man  
My dear, my dear, my dear my dear  
Please don’t stay there just because you planned_

_Don’t know you well yet but I’m sure  
That you deserve to feel secure  
Not living day to day like this in fear  
Your voice is bold and brash and bright  
Your hair is gold and full of light  
And no one could compete with you  
My dear_

_I never tried to lead him on  
And I hate the sadness in your song  
Knowing that you cry alone  
My dear  
I’m sorry, you misunderstand  
There never has been any man  
Who ever caught my eye like you  
My dear_

_My dear, my dear, my dear, my dear  
I’m begging of you please just leave that man  
My dear, my dear, my dear, my dear  
Please don’t stay there just because you planned_

_You could have your choice of men  
But I may never love again  
It’s you that I have fallen for  
My dear  
I’m glad to have this talk with you  
Our happiness depends on you  
And whatever you decide to do  
My dear_

_My dear, my dear, my dear, my dear  
I’m begging of you please just leave that man  
My dear, my dear, my dear, my dear  
Please don’t stay there just because you planned  
My dear, my dear_

\-----

It was months before I'd see Jolene again.

I wasn't ready, at the time, to heed any of her advice, much less return her feelings. I was in love, and I was desperately loyal. It can be too easy, sometimes, to hold onto the good in a relationship, even once the bad starts to warp and outweigh it. Eventually, the good dwindled down to nothing at all, and still I clung to the memory of it. He made me question him, and question myself, and question every woman he spoke to. _What if Jolene is right?_ I wondered. _What if there’s nothing left to do but leave? But then, what if the crushing weight of loneliness afterward is too much to bear?_

By the time his obsession shifted to someone besides Jolene there was so little left, whittled away by tears and sleepless nights and doubts, that I barely felt anything at all. I wondered if I should talk to her the way I did with Jolene, but somehow the idea left me cold. I started almost to wish that he would cheat, or leave, anything to get the worst over with.

He didn't leave. He was just as much a presence in my life, in my bed at night, at the table for dinner or morning coffee. Meanwhile, I was hollow. Was there anything left of me at all?

Jolene wasn't the first woman whose name he muttered or cried out in his sleep, and she wasn't the last. She was just the only one who cared enough about me to notice the strain. Who warned me to leave. Who met my worries with compassion rather than derision or indifference.

And so the day I left, I went to Jolene's doorstep. "It's over," I told her, my voice breaking, tears in my eyes.

She folded me into her arms. “Oh, darlin’. It’s no secret I think you’re better off without him, but I’m sorry you’re hurting. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“I don’t want to be alone right now,” I admitted, and she swung her door wide. 

All the grooves worn into my spirit by years of doubts and insecurity were still present. I flinched away from the notion of letting anyone else into my heart. What I had with Jolene began as a gentle friendship, and even that felt as fragile as a soap bubble.

As for Jolene, she made no advances or demands. We talked about everything and nothing over dinner or glasses of wine. We fell asleep on the couch together watching movies. As time wore on she was as beautiful and as kind as ever, but so careful of me that I wondered whether her feelings had changed since she first expressed them.

I wondered when I’d started to _want_ her feelings to be the same. When I had started to picture a life with Jolene. I certainly couldn’t picture a life with anyone else. She’d earned my trust slowly, and the very idea of trusting anyone else so completely was unimaginable.

The boundaries between friendship and something more began to blur. Our hugs were lingering. I rested my head on her shoulder during our regular movie nights. We were so closely entangled that it would be as easy as turning my head and leaning in a few inches to kiss her. One night, I caved into temptation, and I did.

Just a quick brush of my lips against hers. I pulled back quickly, watching anxiously for her reaction. “I’ll understand if you don’t want this anymore. But if you do…”

She laughed, low and warm. Her green eyes glinted in the light of the nearby lamp, and her voice was soft as ever, but absolutely delighted. “I hoped you’d ask someday. When you were ready.”

There was nothing I could say to that that would be better than kissing her again. Hand threaded through her auburn hair, I pulled her close for a more lingering kiss.

Jolene had soothed away so much of the residue of my last relationship. Kissing her felt as safe as it did exciting. She felt like home, and I wanted to stay.


End file.
